Loose-tread traction-wheel



J. V. PRIEST. -LOOSE TREAD TRACTION WHEEL.

'APPLlCATION HL'EI; OCT-24. 1916. I

1 3 1 a Patented 17, 1921.

. w 1 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2;

ig-e a;

7 To all cola am .vnag concern:

James V; rninsrgon nos ANGELES', oALrFoRNIA. 1

Be it known that I, JAMESV. PRIEST, a

.citizen of; the United States, residing at, Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles' and 'State of California,- have" invented .a

"new. and useful Loose -Tread- Traction-v VVheel, of which the following is a specificatioin An object or" this invention is to produce improved means for enabling automobiles and the hire to passreadlly over the sand of the desert and over other sott ground;

and the invention provides an improvement lin /automatically movable tracks for the.

wheels of a vehicle to, run upon while practijcally climbing out of the depressions made by the wheels. T

That is to say, by-this invention means are provided whereby thecenter of the wheel-1s raised and. advanced so that the Wheel will more easily climb out'of a depression and whereby continuous climbing under continuous running In sandy 'or othersoft ground is effected in a'more satis factory manner than heretofore.

One feature of the invention consists in the'pro'vision on a wheel of a fixedjperiph erally corrugated rim and around such wheel of 'ajper'ipherally corrugated, loose.

annular tre'ad; the corrugations of the rim and tread registering transversely of the I wheel'fand-being wedgeshaped so as to mzuri'mize the frictional resistance to circumferential slippage between the two surfaces and to prevent lateral slip between such surfaces y'therebeihg also' at times, theaddition otteeth and recesses therefor to positively prevent relative rotation of the wheel body and loose tread.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.' t

Figure 1 is a side elevationfiof'a loose tread traction wheel embodyingthe principlesof myinvention. v i

"Fig; 2 is an enlargedfc'ross sectionat the elevated contactplace ofthe'rim of the wheel when running in sand, andshowing three circumferential outwardly projecting anti-skidding corrugations upon the loose tread track, corresponding corrugations uponthe wheel rim to prevent lateral slipping'ofthewheel upon the loose tread track,

and gear teeth to: absolutely prevent circumferential'slipping of the fixed wheel on the loose tread track. u

Loosn-TREAn cinnamon-W EEL. 1

is a sectional ean Can-1e line a Specification of'Letters Patent. Patented May 17, I Application filed 0ctober24, 19a. Serial N6. 127,346. i

showingthe corrugations and gear teeth ex tending inwardly, and showlng one way of attaching to the stock rimof a truck'wheel.

Flg. 6 is a view analogous to Figs. 41and5 and showingn single outwardly extending anti-skidding .c'orrugatiom the gear, teeth I being in line withjthe corrugation.'

- Fig. 7-is a' sectional detaiI'onlinearr .Fi .6. I I i l ig. 8 is a view analogous to 6 and showing a difierent formof attachment to the wheel; 1

A looseftrea d tractionwheel' a i 1 o the principles of my il lvvel ti'onlv comprises the combination y'vith 'ajwhee'l'body, which] may, comprise a hub 1 spokes 2 and a telly telly and a; loose tread track rim '5upon. which the jattaching rim 43mins;

The details of-the 'hub, spoke and lelly' construction are 7 not material, as I propose tov use any wheel for which there is a de-l m'and. 7 a Referring.toQFigsQ'Q and .3 the plain. flat metal tire band disset upon 'the telly 3, saidband being'of' any desiredwidth for a [sand rimpthe construction shown being. for a-hea'vy truck. The guide and grip-;, ping band T is set .upon the tire bandit "3, or any substitute thereforgot "a rigid at-fi 7 I tachin-g rim 4 secured to the body rim or;

If the fellyd'has a. suitable peripheral; fag-e I. 1

the tire band .6v may be' omitted" and the-i guide and gripping band 7 set directly upon the'felly. The guide and gripping band-'7 has three parallel outwardly projeeting circumferential anti-skidding track guiding and retaining corrugations 8 and two rows of outwardly projecting gear 1 teeth 9, said-,corrugations 8 andlgear teeth 9 being itormediby pressing.

The loose'trea d trackcrim 5 metal I band 10, similar'toithe band '7,v and is provided with anti-skidding, track-guiding and l retaining corrugations. 11min which the corrugations S lit, and run and gear teeth "recesses 12in which the "gear. teeth 9 fit and i run; so that the trackwill not slip laterally from under the wheel and so "that the wheel a will not slip circumferentiall'y. upon the track. The lining. 13 of hard fiber is set track. 1 g The loose tread track rim 5 has a minlmum withinthe band and makes a non-metallic contact between the wheel and track, thereby minimizing wear and noise.

' On account of its non-slipping character the lining also maxlmizesfriction and thus causes a positive contact between the wheel and, the track, thereby relieving the strain upon the gear teeth and assisting the corru gations and the gear teeth inpreventmg circumferent al internal diameter greater than the 'maXimum external diameter of the attaching rim 1 sorthat the. track rim mayzbe readily nserted or removed when the wheel is off the ground; and when the load is on thewheel the track rim is held in place as before suggested; thereby providing an automatically movable track for the wheel to run on.

Referring to Fig. 4, I have shown a con-.

struction for a lighter truck, there being narrower bands having one row of gear teeth and two rows of anti-skidding guiding. and

retaining corrugations.

Referring to Fig. 5 the rigid attaching rim 4 comprises the guide and gripping band 1 L having two parallel inwardly projecting circumferential anti-skidding track guiding and retaining corrugations '15fittingthe'quick detachable tire rim 16, and

I having a row of'inwardly extending gear teeth recesses 17 The loose tread track run to wheels intended for solid rubber or pneu-' may be interchangeable.

25 comprises the metal band 18 and the lining '19 having the inwardly projecting corrugations 20 fittingand runn ng in the corrugations 15 and havingthe inwardly projecting gear teeth 21 running in the recesses '17.

This is one form of applying my invention matic-tires, so that loose and tight, treads Referring to F'gs. 6 and 7 the rigid attaching rim 4 comprises the supplemental tire band 22 circumferentially offset inwardly from its edges to fit the quick de tachable tire rim l6 and the guidegripping band 23 secured to the edges of the supple mental band by rivets 24, said guide and gripping band 23'having a single row of outwardly extending gear. teeth 25. V The loose tread track rim 5 comprises the metal 7 upon the felly 3 and having a row of gear band 26 and the lining 27 having gear teeth recesses 28 in which the gear teeth run and having retaining flanges" 29 extending from the edges of the band26 inwardly past the edges of the band23.

Referring to Fig. 8 the rigid attaching rim 4 comprises the flat tire band 30' set teeth 31 projecting outwardly circumferentially. The loose tread track rim 5 comprises the metal band 32 and the lining 33 having the gear teeth recesses in which 1' slipping of the wheel upon the the gear teeth 31'run, and having the retaining flanges 35 extending inwardly from the edges of the band '32 past the edges of the band 30, so'as to holdthe wheel upon the track under the load.

- It is obvious that the details of construc- A tion may be varied in many other ways without departing from the spirittof my infrictionalsurface isimportant in its contact wlth the sand and it is lm'portant 1n the con; I

tact between the attaching rim and the loose tread track rim. Amongother things itreduces the wear and above all it reduces the" tendency to slip or spin, as the corrugations on account of their wedge shape are at all times during the travel o f the wheel forced into a practically non-slipping engagement with each other by the weight of the wheel plus the weight of the load it carries, and it is evident that such a strong frictional grip cannot be attained by other forms ofcorru-. gations, or by circumferential ridges adapted to engage grooves of other forms."" It is also clear that while the flat portions at ,the

sides of the corrugations'will restupon the loose surface sand, the corrugations shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, will penetrate to the more solid sand and press thesand laterally underxthe'fiat portions and 'at'the ,same

time these circumferential corrugations ;will

meet but trifling resistance in their forward rolling motion as compared with the usual cross ribs. In the modified form of. the wheel rim, shown'in Fig. 5, the flat portions of the rim press the sand laterally' and into 1 the corrugations 20 ,so that thereby ridges are formed which effectually prevent'lateral movementof the wheel during its travel upon the ground.

In a case where the wheel is carryingfa load over softsand as in. Fig. 1 thezcenter of the solid wheel is always somewhat below and in front of the-center of the loose treadtrack rim and the wheel is climbing the track rim as it would climb aboard laidv upon the sand and the load will move much easier than if the track rim were removed.[ I claim 4 '1; The combination with a an, as

having a quick detachabletire rim, of a supplemental tire bandffitting the quickideta'c'hable tire run, a guiding 'and grippin-g band rigidly secured to the supplemental tire band, and a loose tread track rim in which the guiding and gripping band runs, there being wedge-shaped circumferential corrugations on the guiding and gripping band and corresponding wedge-shaped corrugations on the track rim to hold the wheel in thev track rim and to prevent skidding, and

there being gear teeth to hold the gripping band from slipping circumferentially in the track rim, the wedge-shaped corrugations relieving the strain upon the gear teeth and assisting them in preventing circumferential slipping.

2. A wheel having a fiat rim; wedge shaped gear teeth on the periphery of said rim; a loose tread track rim in which the wheel runs, said track r1m having recesses to receive the gear teeth and prevent slipcumferential corrugation, a loose tread track I run in which the wheel runs, sald track 1'1111 having a corrugation fitting the corrugation of the attaching rim, so as tohold theattaching rim from slipping laterally in the track rim and so as to hold the track rim from skidding.

4. A wheel, an attaching rim secured to the wheel and having a wedge-shaped circumferential corrugation, a loose tread track rim in which the wheel runs, said track rim having a corrugation fitting the corrugation of the attaching rim, so as to hold the attaching rim from slipping laterally in'the track rim and so as to hold the track rim from skidding, gear teeth connecting the track rim to the attaching rim to prevent V circumferential slipping; and means between the attaching rim and the track rim for maximizing friction between the wheel" and the track rim and thereby relieving the strain upon the gear teeth and also for minimizing wear and noise.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 13th day of September, 1916."

JAMES V. PRIEST. Witness: 7 7

JAMES R. TOWNSEND. 

